The invention relates to a telecommunications patch panel that comprises a mounting interface for mounting the patch panel in a mounting location of a rack, and to a method of mounting a patch panel in a rack.
Patch panels are employed in telecommunication systems to enable fibre-optic or electrical interconnections to be changed as required. Typically, fibre-optic or electrical jacks are mounted on the patch panel, which are accessible from the front side of the patch panel, and into which so-called patch cords can be plugged as required. Patch panels are often arranged in racks so that the connectors on the front side of the panel are exposed and readily accessible. Normally, several patch panels are mounted in a rack in a space-saving manner, e.g. one above the other, with no free space between one patch panel and a patch panel above or below it.
Mounting racks mostly comprise two vertical parallel mounting posts with flat mounting surfaces oriented towards the front of the rack. Each mounting surface has a vertical row of mounting holes of standardized shapes and sizes, located at standardized intervals. A patch panel can be mounted on the rack by screws extending from the front through a mounting plate or mounting interface at both lateral sides of the patch panel and through corresponding mounting holes on the rack. For fixing the patch panel to the rack, an installer engages the screws with the mounting posts or with corresponding nuts, positioned behind the mounting holes.
Mounting a patch panel on a rack can be difficult for a single person, because the patch panel needs to be held in its mounting position with one hand, while the screws first on one side of the patch panel, then on the other side, are to be engaged with the other hand. If patch cords are already connected to the patch panel, the mounting is even more difficult, because one hand must carry the weight of the patch panel and the additional weight of the patch cords, while the other hand engages the screws. Unmounting of patch panels from a rack can be equally difficult, because the patch panel must be held with one hand while the screws must be removed with the other hand.
Traditional mounting of a patch panel is shown, for example, in the international patent publication WO 2010/080745, which describes a rack mounting bracket attached to a mounting portion of a side of a patch panel, and in U.S. patent publication 2008/0115956, in which a patch panel has a frame which has mounting members on opposite longitudinal ends of the frame for mounting the patch panel to a plurality of locations on a network rack using screws, that may be inserted through the mounting members and through mounting apertures in the rack in order to secure the patch panel to the rack. U.S. patent application 2006/0018622 A1 describes a patch panel which is pivotally mounted to a drawer. The drawer has a cable tray which in turn has retainer clips that allow the patch panel to move between an upright position and a rotated position.
Attempts have been made to make the mounting of patch panels in racks easier. JP 2005209388 A2 describes a patch panel frame which is mounted on a rack by using mounting screws. The mounting screws pass into fixing holes of the frame through vertical slits extending from the fixing holes. The mounting screws can receive a part of the weight of the patch panel frame while the mounting screws are not fully tightened. A patch panel that is to be mounted in a rack, can be brought into a suspended state in its final mounting location. In this suspended state, its weight is supported by the rack, so that an installer can use both hands to securely fix it to the rack, e.g. by tightening screws.
The mounting locations above or below the mounting location, in which a patch panel is to be installed, may be occupied by other patch panels or other equipment. Generally, free space or gaps above or below adjacent mounting locations are undesirable, because space in a rack is valuable. Hence, it is desirable that a patch panel, that is to be mounted in the rack, can be brought into a suspended state in its final mounting location without requiring free rack space above or below the space that the patch panel occupies in its final mounting location. The present invention addresses this problem.